Introduction: Beginning of a Mistake

Nervous anticipation seized her the second she entered the crowded room. Applicants stood apart, standoffish as they gauged the competition with critical eyes. The energy in the room was a stagnant pond of nerves and adrenaline a moment away from becoming a whirlpool of fear and excitement.

The 286th Hunter Exam… Lanfen wondered what it would entail, how many of these hopefuls would make it through to the end, prize in hand. She found herself honestly surprised to see such a crowd crammed into the space connected to a humble thrift store. It wasn't particularly easy to reach the exam site, after all.

The trip here- for her, at least- had been a traveler's nightmare. All the way on the other side of the world sat Anchi -southern neighbor of the Kakin Kingdom- where she loosely called home, the exam taking place on the coast of Southeast Yorobia, nearing the Balsa Islands. If the distance alone wasn't daunting, then the trickery made up for it. The airship taking applicants had listed under a commercial flight, yet that had been a lie meant to fool the unwary. Lan had almost fallen for it, standing in line, until it struck her that everyone around her seemed weak, untrained, if not gullible. Instead an ancient unmarked cargo airship on the other side of the airport had been the actual transport. Until it crashed. A few thousand kilometers away from the destination. On purpose. The captain blatantly announced over the intercom for them to brace for impact, that if they couldn't brave out this much, they weren't fit for the exam. The fiery explosion had been marvelous, drowning out the screams of those unfortunate souls too slow to escape.

From the ill-fated airship, Lan had to find alternate transportation. A train ran from the city nearest to the crash to a town only a few hundred kilometers from the supposed exam site (as, at that point, she came to expect this to be deceptively difficult as well). A few other applicants had had the same idea as her, the small group gathering in the train station in their smoke-and-ash-coated clothes. Catching the train had been another chore, as it left the station early just as they neared it, conductor's voice taunting them as he forced her and several others to run and jump to get aboard. At least it was free, she supposed.

But then she tracked down a navigator! Outside the next town, she searched out an aura she suspected belonged to a Hunter assisting with the exam, now operating under the impression that many people had to be involved in this conspiracy of weeding out the weak. The navigator's name… Well, she honestly never bothered to learn his name properly, but he had been very willing to show her to the exam after a demonstration of her competence- otherwise known as her detailed gushing and fawning over his pet. His ride had been a million times better than an airship. Oh, Flala had been the most darling cloud vulture she'd ever seen! Such fluffy white feathers, vibrant pink bald head, nastily curved beak, and sharpened talons… Riding on the giant scavenger's back to get the exam site had been blissful, especially when it took a small detour to snap up the fly-covered corpse of a deer.

Admittedly, she had played with the bird longer than she intended. One didn't often get the chance to see a nasty-tempered vulture known for shredding apart the unwary merely for stepping too close to a carcass. She appreciated the navigator's enthusiasm as he told her how he raised Flala from a chick after poachers killed the parents; he said he was a 'Beast Hunter' interested in preservation. Perhaps lacking violence, but she had no other title in mind yet. His was at least one to consider after she got a license. Assuming she passed, she corrected, not wanting to err on the side of arrogance quite yet.

She glanced at her chest to the tag affixed to her shirt, tilting it to read the number again: 387. A high number considering she might have been one of the earlier arrivals. Playing with Flala had been worth it, though.

After staring at the badge another moment, she sighed at the sight of her clothes and hair. Her guise disappointed her. Long hair, in the way even with it tied back. While she quite liked her traditional Anchi clothing for its convenient pockets and layers, it caused further inconvenience. If her face and name didn't give her away, her clothes ensured recognition. If only her sister hadn't ruined anonymity for her, she wouldn't have had to go through such ridiculous lengths to even attempt the Hunter Exam. This set of convoluted lies had taken a few years to get into place. All of this effort just to avoid a reputation, how silly.

But not everything could be blamed on her sister. Lan's recent hobbies did nothing to help her seem unassuming. Petty theft with Nemmi wasn't very becoming of a Hunter (although she wasn't aware if the Association took notice of such insignificant, impulsive thievery). And, well, there was also the matter of those Hunters…

She shuttered at the thought, lips twitching, trying to keep her heart from erratically beating out of her chest. The thrill of a predator tracking prey. The adrenaline rushing though her as her life hung in the balance. The warm blood spurting from open wounds. She carefully bit her lip, smile threatening to creep into the open as her control wavered. The atmosphere of the exam had her way too giddy. The challenge the exam presented had her too excited. Nemmi would be screaming in her ear if she lost her control so easily, wasting the last few years of her effort over memories. Drawing attention to herself, she couldn't. Not yet. Not here.

Her goal in taking the exam, she mentally repeated it to redirect herself back to her priorities. A license and proper training, that's why she was there. Fighting needlessly would prevent her from reaching her goal. Concentration and restraint, she needed it here more than anywhere else.

A distraction. She needed a distraction.

Lanfen did as the rest of the applicants, eyes quickly scanning over the room, searching the competition. Her attention briefly lingered on a few that appeared smug, practiced. People that had perhaps taken the exam before, she decided. A man wearing a turban, an assortment of adorable snakes poking their heads out from his clothing, caught her attention first. Then a man with sunglasses and a ruffle-necked shirt carrying a large weapon of some sort. She also noticed a group of three younger men standing together, similar facial features suggesting they were related. While she noticed the stout, older man approaching her, she ignored him completely as her eyes fell on him.

Her heart leapt to her throat.

Despite his unusual, flamboyant clothing and vibrant red hair reminiscent of a clown's (a jester, if she was nice), that man, he radiated pure danger. As he flawlessly shuffled a deck of cards between his hands, she could see the toned muscles in his arm flex, his pointed nails catching the dim lights of the room. His face, with sharp golden eyes and an unnerving smile, made her heart drum against her chest. And his aura, so controlled and refined, she marveled at its lethal glow.

If this were a romance, she believed she would be seeing bursting pink hearts. But for murder. Fighting him would be absolutely thrilling. She nearly drooled over the foolish idea, as this man was the strongest person she had ever seen. Those Hunters, they were but slugs in comparison to the predator standing across the room. A chaotic force of nature far outside her realm of experience… The irrational side of her wanted to forget the exam to challenge this man, to witness what true power looked like, felt like. She wanted to test just how weak she was against someone as beautifully deadly as him. She wanted the adrenaline rush of facing an embodiment of death.

Her overly zealous bloodlust flared when those golden, glinting eyes met her own.

Hisoka lazily glanced in the direction that he felt an intense stare from. He expected anger or fear, perhaps from someone that recognized him for one reason or another. Instead he found a young woman staring at him with a fascinating combination of love-struck, murderous eyes. Her bloodlust tickled his skin.

A Nen-user. Perhaps the only one here besides himself and the examiners (such a disappointment, as he expected the exam to have much stronger potential toys than the few reality offered him). Her aura appeared somewhat untrained and rough, but the potential certainly existed. Right now, she tried to reign in her emotion, stifle her aura, tame her Nen until it once more became calm and uninteresting. Not to lose his attention, as her stare remained fixed on him, but that of those nearby her that unconsciously became uncomfortable with the energy.

With their eyes still locked, his smile widened, returning her bloodlust with a bit of his own. The reaction was spectacular, her pale blue aura clawing against his desperately. Her face maintained its awe-filled expression, eyes round in reverence, even as her hands shook in terror. Brave or foolish, he wondered as he stopped shuffling his cards, making them disappear in one flourished movement. She showed no reaction to the magic trick. Those caramel eyes never left his face. Alert, aware of how dangerous he was, yet still transfixed with admiration… Curious little thing.

He flicked another card into his fingers, twirling it, her eyes intently watching as his aura crept into the card.

It almost impaled the rookie-crusher approaching her, the edge catching her shirt as she leaned away from the card aimed to slice open her neck. His eyes narrowed in satisfaction.

Overall, interesting enough to play with, he supposed. Once they were away from the distracting nothings of this crowd, he'd have to give her an actual test, decide her worth, kill her or allow her to ripen dependent on the results. A bit of fun in this otherwise boring exam. He licked his lips in anticipation as he turned away, allowing his new toy freedom from his analytical gaze.

For now.

Lan retreated to the other side of the room, fingers twitching as she held the playing card she'd pried from the stone wall. His Shu had been spectacular… He had been spectacular. That taste of bloodlust had her shaking. Oh, how she wanted more than a glimpse, yet also how positively stupid fighting him would be.

She had no problem admitting how outmatched she would be against him. A few minutes, she guessed, would be all she could hold out against him, assuming she used her Hatsu and prioritized escape over battle.

But she couldn't do that here. A Hatsu, molded to an individual's personality, would be easily identifiable. If she wanted to keep her Hunter persona apart from her other activities, there would be absolutely no using her Hatsu during the exam. Again, it took her quite some time to prepare for the exam, and Nemmi would be very upset if she banned him from joining her only for her to screw it up to fight some random, amazingly powerful, stranger for fun.

Yet, now, she had the man's attention. Those curious golden eyes had filled with unsettling amusement when she avoided that card… This magician didn't appear ready to return to ignoring her presence.

One look might have been enough to ruin her chances of passing…

The exam didn't allow her to consider the ramifications of her lapse in judgement. With the startling noise of rusted metal echoing about the room, all attention went to a rising wall. The side of the room opened with agonizing slowness, the dim yellow lights of the room gradually blending with the final wisps of daylight. Once the wall disappeared beyond the ceiling, a cool salt-and-fish breeze filled the formerly stagnant space.

The ocean. In front of them stretched the sparkling blue of the ocean as it began to take on the colors of the sky. There was no pristine beach of sand. Instead, the building sat on a cliff that appeared far above the water below. At the very edge stood a conspicuous man.

He smiled with a knowing smirk, eyes hidden by a pair of sunglasses. He held an exceptionally large pipe across his broad shoulders. Silvery hair caught the sunlight as day began to give way to night. While his clothes consisted of a rather dull grey shirt tucked into dark pants, it didn't disguise his muscular, bulky appearance. Whoever he was, he appeared strong, capable, a Hunter in every regard.

The crowd's former chatter hushed. They understood what this man's arrival meant. Lan felt the anticipation well up in her again, quelling her fretting about what to do about her new magician acquaintance. Quickly, she had tunnel vision. Her eyes focused on the man standing before them, waiting for instructions.

The exam was about to begin.